


Of Richard and his many nicknames

by Bubbly88Tay



Category: DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Building Collapse, Concussions, Gen, Impalement, Whump, just some batfam feels, literally just whump without plot, uhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-11-12 11:01:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18009704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bubbly88Tay/pseuds/Bubbly88Tay
Summary: Or, that time when Jason was really wracking his brain to call his brother as many different names as possible, all with the word 'Dick' in it.Definitely not because he was worried or anything.





	Of Richard and his many nicknames

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt and Whump Exchange gift for @BreakThemGood on tumblr, sorry this took so long! but I hope you enjoy my whump loving friend. (The prompt was "A is forced to take care of their frenemy/rival")
> 
> This is definitely my first forray into this particular side of comics. I've done some Marval stuff but never DC. Dick Grayson finally wore away at my resolve and I had to write something (as awful as it may be) for the dude I've been devoting my life to recently. Hopefully this is recieved well and I can write more for DC in the future!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer, I'm really freaking broke, so I don't own anything you recognize. I also don't claim to be an expert on anything, grammar and/or the batboys. Most of my knowledge comes from what I've interpreted while reading through the comics haphazardly and also through shitposts and such on Tumblr. With that being said, enjoy!

 

“I told you not to come, you stupid-” 

 

“What, and let a building fall on you? All by yourself. Not a,’’ a deep groan broke his sentence, “-not a chance.” Jason almost stops his ministrations as he looks over at the bloody and dusty face of his brother. He’s got a smirk that shines through the grime and Jason’s urge to jostle the rebar that he’s trying to stabilize, intensifies.

 

“You’re a fucking idiot.” Jason mutters as he finishes tying the pressure bandages around the bar that is sticking through Dick’s midsection. It’s not bleeding much externally, but he knows that there’s too much that he can’t see. 

 

“No, I’m uh -” Dick hisses as Jason starts patting down the rest of his body, trying to find any other injuries that aren’t as clear. “-ah, yeah, that hurt.”

 

Jason feels bones grating against each other as he presses down against Dicks chest and knows from personal experience that he’s got a few broken ones. Whether it be from the building collapsing on them and leaving them trapped, or from the fight leading up to the building collapsing on them and leaving them trapped. Jason’s not sure. 

 

What he is sure of, is that they’re trapped, and Dick’s in some deep shit. 

 

Jason never should have allowed Dick to come along, but his brother was nothing, if not stubborn.  _ “If you’re not gonna tell anyone, than at least let  _ me  _ have your back. Bruce and Tim are out on patrol tonight and Barbara’s hanging out with little D. That leaves me with nothing to do except hang out with the homeboy” _

 

_ “We are not homeboys, dickwad.” _

 

Jason had given in and now he was trying to save the idiots life only a few hours later. It had been a trap. A trap that Jason had been too consumed by the task at hand, to notice. 

 

Dick noticed though. Jason was still having issues trying to remember what happened before the explosion, but all he knows is that one moment, Jason was sneaking through the old brick building, and the next, Dick was throwing himself at Jason and somewhere along the line, Jason lost consciousness. 

 

He woke up... later. He’s not sure how much later, but he is certain of one thing. He’s concussed. It takes him a minute to gain his bearings, of which he does in a frustrated manner. He’s pinned against the ground, and there’s dust and other particles in the air, making it difficult to breathe. When Jason opens his eyes, he can’t see anything. It’s one of those darkness’s that envelopes you leaves you feeling like your floating. 

 

But Jason wasn’t floating, he was trapped. 

 

He coughed, his ribs protesting the sudden movements, and fished around his pocket for his flashlight. He just grasps it and clicks it on, illuminating a grisly sight. 

 

At first, it's his surroundings. Its ragged, and building pieces have fallen around them, encasing them in a giant bubble. A bubble that if it pops, who knows how many tons of metal and brick and other building materials will fall of them. Effectively killing them. Probably. 

 

Jason dips the light a little, and it lands on a dark mass laying across his legs. He finds it slightly comforting that its the soft, still form of his brother. 

 

_ Too still.  _

 

Jason sits up carefully, feeling his sore muscles pull with the movement. He watches Dicks chest, unknowingly holding his own breath until he watches the slow rise and fall of Dick’s breathing. ‘ _ Thank God.’ _

 

It didn’t take him much longer to pull his legs out from underneath his brother, holding back a groan at the way his entire body starts to scream at him. He knows  himself well enough to know that he’s fine. Bruised, maybe a bit bloody, possibly a few broken ribs and whatnot, but fine. Nothing he hadn’t ever dealt with before. 

 

“Dickie-bird, you good?” Jason rolls over onto his front and groans, as he processes his options. They can’t stay down here long. He’s not worried about lack of oxygen, but he’s sure that he’s more likely to kill someone (Dick) if he’s stuck in the same, enclosed space for an extended amount of time. He’s contemplating ways to get out of there, (Blowing their way out, calling out for Superman...anything but Bruce. The cops are bound to be on their way anytime now…) when he realizes that Dick isn’t responding. 

 

“Hey?” Jason asked again, pushing himself up to his knees, weary of the low hanging ceiling. “Dick!”

He points the flashlight at his brother, and nothing immediately appears wrong, (fuck the black suits.) He’s lying on his side, his face pointing away from Jason. Jason pulled himself closer, and carefully peered over Dick’s body, his eyes following the beam of the flashlight. 

 

Dick is pale, which could be attributed to the poor lighting, or even the dust that was heavy in the air, but Jason knows better. Dick has a few lacerations on his face, and blood is running from his dark hairline across his forehead and disappearing into the other side of his hair. He has blood leaking from his nose, and his lip is split in at least two different places. Dick has a concussion, easily.

 

Noting the head wounds and knowing those could be why Dick was unconscious, he brought his beam further down. The tight fitting suit made it challenging to tell if he had any further injuries underneath the fabric, but Jason is just barely able to conceal a gasp as he looked lower down. 

 

The rebar is sticking out of the left side of his abdomen, about four inches shy of where his ribs meet his abdomen. The part that sticks out of the front is red, rust and blood Jason assumes. Jason quickly flashes the flashlight back onto Dicks back and swallows as he notices the rebar that he didn’t notice before. 

 

He landed on his back, Jason can tell that much. He’s not sure how he ended up laying across his own lower half though. Jason ponders the thought momentarily, as he scoots over Dick, careful to avoid jarring the short piece of rebar. It can’t be more than a foot long and Jason assumes it must have broken somewhere during the collapse, hopefully before it shish-kabobed his brother. 

 

Jason puts a gloved hand on his brothers cheek, tapping slightly, while his other hand grips Dicks shoulder, making sure that when he rouses, he doesn’t move or jar the injury. “Dickbrain, wake up before I tell bats that you’re sleeping on patrol again!” 

 

Despite Jason’s best efforts, Dick jars beneath Jason’s hands. Jason holds back a wince at the way his brothers face contorts under the mask, squeezing together as the pain begins to force dick awake. Dick doesn’t make a sound though, to Jason’s surprise. His heart rate increases dramatically and his breathing becomes labored, but he doesn’t gasp, scream, cry, or moan. Instead he suffers silently for a few moments before cracking open his eyes. 

 

The flashlight that lies on the ground, pointing upwards at the duo, shines directly into Dicks eyes. In response he slams them shut again, before licking his lips. “What’s the damage?” He croaks aloud. 

 

“Promise me you won’t move?” Jason asks. When he receives a small nod in confirmation, Jason releases his hands and takes off his hood followed by his jacket. The jacket he balls up and slides under Dicks head. Finally, he reangles the flashlight so that it’s not shining directly in Dicks face. “Alright, open your eyes.”

 

Dick does so with difficulty. He blinks a few times, rapidly, and Jason can see the cogs working in overtime to catch up. Jason remains silent while Dick becomes more and more aware. Finally, after a few moments of silence, Dick groans and covers his eyes with the hand that he’s not laying on. “Bruce is gonna kill us.”

 

“Yeah, probably, that’s if the rebar skewering you doesn’t do it first.” Jason watches for a reaction from Dick, but is surprised by what he gets.

 

No response other than a light snort. Another moment passes before Dicks question from before resurfaces, “what’s the damage?”

 

“Well, besides the new hole in your body, you’ve probably got a concussion as well as an entire building on top of us trying to crush us into littler, flatter, versions of ourselves.”

 

“What the hell happened?” Dick groaned, dropping his hand and looking around at his surroundings before looking down at the grisly injury. 

 

“It was a trap, they wanted me here I presume.”

 

“They blew the whole place up, just to kill you, and yet still managed to mess that up.” 

“What can I say, I’m a lucky man.”

 

“Lucky, ha.” Dick snorts, the movement jostling the wound and screwing Dicks face up in pain again. “Alright, that hurt. No more bad jokes.” Dick clears his throat as he reaches for the bar.

 

Jason grabs Dick’s wrist and holds it back, “if you thought that was a joke, then you have a poor sense of humor.”

 

Dick flashes a grin. “If I can find humor in any situation, I think that means that I actually have a great sense of-“ 

 

“Shut up and don’t touch, I’m gonna stabilize the bar but you gotta not move. At all.” Jason scolds, and lays Dicks hand on the ground after his brother nods in agreement.

 

“This is going to suck.” Dick swallows as Jason pulls bandages from a pocket in his pants. “Have you gotten a hold of anybody yet?”

 

Jason stops his ministrations and considers the possibility of a head injury for himself. Jason decides to berate himself later for his lack of forethought, and instead decides to pass the job off.

 

“Uh, no. Do you want-“

 

“No, but I’ll do it anyways. My ear piece is gone, do you have yours?” Dick asks, poking at his ear just to make sure.

 

Jason shakes his head, then pulls his cell from his jean pockets. “This is shattered, won’t do us any good. Do you think Superman is busy?” Jason deadpans, as Dick smirks. 

 

“Last resort. Any other - ah f-“ Dick shouts, and Jason watches as he brings his fist to his mouth and bites down on it. Jason swears just under the sounds of Dicks pained noises as he ceases movement. 

 

_ “ _ Sorry, I know it hurts, but it’s gotta be done.” Jason continues when Dick nods shakily. 

 

Besides the muffled sounds of Dicks yelling, it’s otherwise silent as Jason works on making sure the wound is handled to the best of his ability. He decides not to think of the probability of infection. 

 

As he finishes up the front side, he looks up at Dicks face again. Dicks eyes are closed, and his gloved hand still clenched into a fist and held against his mouth. His face is paler than it was a few moments ago, and Jason realizes he needs to start working on avoiding shock setting in. “Ok, so any ideas?”

 

Dick takes a semi-deep breath before opening his eyes and looking up at Jason, “What?”

 

“Getting outta here, you got any ideas?” Jason asks, probing the area around the wound in the back. 

 

Dick shakes his head, “I don’t know. I know Damian knew where we were going. Once they-“

 

“Wait, how does Damian know?” Jason asks, beginning to stabilize the intruding object. 

 

“I told him, just in case something like this-AH, dammit!” Dicks hand pounds the concrete beside his body as he begins to squirm painfully underneath his hands. 

 

“You can’t move Dick!” Jason shouts as he removes his hands from near the wound and stills Dick by placing a hand on his hip and the other on his shoulder to keep him from squirming. 

 

“I’m trying!”

 

“Well try harder!” Jason yells, and instantly regrets it. He resumes his first aid while Dick does his best to remain still. Jason can feel his brothers body trembling beneath his fingertips, and Jason debates pulling his coat out from under Dicks head and laying it across his body. 

 

“I told you not to come, you stupid-” Jason mutters, before Dick cuts in with a strained laugh. 

 

“What, and let you experience a building falling on you, all by yourself. Not a,’’ a deep groan broke his sentence, “-not a chance.” Jason almost stops his ministrations as he looks over at the bloody and dusty face of his brother. He’s got a smirk that shines through the grime and Jason’s urge to jostle the rebar that he’s trying to stabilize, intensifies.

 

“You’re a fucking idiot.” Jason mutters.

 

“No, I’m uh -” Dick hisses as Jason starts patting down the rest of his body, trying to find any other injuries that aren’t as clear. “-ah, yeah, that hurt.”

  
  


“You’re a fucking idiot.” Jason repeats.

 

Jason feels bones grating against each other as he presses down against Dicks chest and knows from personal experience that he’s got a few broken ones. Jason’s not sure if they’re from the building collapsing on them and leaving them trapped, or from the fight leading up to building collapsing on them and leaving them trapped. He can’t even be sure if it really makes a difference. 

 

He catalogues the information than sits back on his heels, reassessing his own injuries, and still confident that his brother seemed to have taken the brunt of it all. He uses the back of his hand to brush sweat and dust from his brow before his eyes land on Dick again. 

 

Dick’s eyes are closed, and Jason’s heart drops for a moment as he lays a hand on his brothers shoulders, shaking it just enough to try and garner a reaction. “Hey dickface, you are aware that you’re not allowed to sleep when trapped under an unstable building with your equally unstable brother?” 

 

“I’m tryin, Jay.” Dick muttered as he exhaled lightly into the cavern. 

 

“Listen man, I’ve been dead before, you don’t want to do that. Trust me.” Jason scans the interior of the rubble again with the flashlight, hoping to find a door or a window out while simultaneously knowing that it wasn’t going to happen. He racks his brain for idea’s and answers, for any tidbit of information that could help them in that moment, but nothing came to him. 

 

Including a response from Dick.

 

Jason points the flashlight right at Dicks face and freezes at the complexion. Dicks skin, while normally paler than average due to his tendencies to spend the most amount of time outdoors in the middle of the night, it was downright ghostly in the moment. “You’re bleeding internally Dick, and you need help, and-”

 

“There’s no one coming soon enough,” Dick mutters, still not bothering to open his eyes. “You could blow your way out.”

 

“And risk bringing the rest of the building down on us? No way, too risky.”

 

“So me bleeding out, is less risky than a building collapsing on me?” Dick chuckles, then groans. 

 

“You’re not bleeding  _ out _ , you’re bleeding  _ in _ .” Jason mutters, pinching the bridge of his nose, hoping if he can lure the headache away, he can put a plan into action. 

 

“Ha, a pun, Tim would be…” Jason waits for a the end of the sentence, but it never comes, instead, a hacking cough fills the air. Jason watches Dicks eyes clench tightly as blood erupts from his mouth and runs down his cheek. 

 

“No, no, no, no…” Jason mutters, pressing an ear close to Dicks chest. The rasping breath sounds are all it takes for Jason to be able to tell that one of the ribs has punctured Dicks lungs. “This is worst case scenario, Dick, you need help.”

 

Jason isn’t surprised when Dick doesn’t answer, and instead, remains silent. The creases around his eyes are relaxed, and Jason begins to feel panic as he realizes that if help doesn’t arrive, than this is it. 

 

“Dick, come on man, don’t do this.” Jason’s hands are shaking as he places the flashlight on the ground again and grabs Dicks face in his hands. “Come on brother, don’t you do this to me-”

 

Debris begins to rain down around them, and Jason curses to himself as it begins to fall down on them. He pulls Dicks head into his arms, to protect his deathly still comrade, before a chunk of something makes contact with the back of his head, and suddenly his world erupts in shades of red and white, and then finally it all fades black. 

 

Awareness came back suddenly. His head pounded as his eyes snapped open to see the cloudy gotham sky above him. “What the fu-” Jason felt nausea rise from deep within and he slammed his eyes shut as he tried to not expel his stomach contents. 

 

“Lay still, you have a concussion,” It took Jason a few seconds longer than normal to realize that it was Tim that had his hand pressed to his chest, keeping his from sitting up. Jason wanted nothing more than to defy the copy-robin’s order, but the way he was seeing stars in that moment prevented any such thing. Instead he opened his eyes and looked down towards his feet. There he is, Red Robin. His attention wasn’t on Jason though. His attention was directed somewhere to his left and it takes everything in Jason’s control to not throw up when he turns his head. 

 

The sight that met him was just as easily leaving him nauseous. He witnesses Batman as well as the Bat-brat holding Dick up on his side, as Batgirl laid another kiss on Dicks dirt and blood crusted forehead. 

 

She then quickly steps back, and Superman steps forward from the shadows, scooping Dick up off the ground, cradling him carefully in his arms, and then disappearing into the night air. 

 

The rooftop is quiet for a few moments before Bruce turns to him. “Can you walk?” 

 

Jason can feel the anger radiating from Bruce’s body, and Jason nods, shakily getting to his feet, swatting Tim’s hands away once he’s steadied. “You’re with me, the rest of you meet us back at the cave.”

 

Its a quick drive, a silent drive. Exactly how Bruce likes it, but Jason can tell that the older man has something on his mind. “Are you going to yell at me? Or are you going to continue to pretend I’m not right here?”

 

“What were you thinking tonight?” Bruce hissed through clenched teeth. 

 

“You are not going to pin this all on me!” Jason accused, ignoring the aching in his head.

 

“You’re lucky that Dick let us know where you both were heading, or he would be dead right now.”

 

“Perks of the job, Bats, you should know that. Dick wanted to come, I let him. Its as much his fault as it is mine.”

 

“But only one of you were able to tell that you were walking right into a trap. You were too invested in whatever it is that you have going on to realize that the entire place was going to blow.”

 

“That’s fucking hilarious coming from you. You’ve been running around dressed like a bat and scaring common criminal longer than any of us. At least when I’m  _ too invested,  _ I have results that back up my actions!”

 

“You were reckless, and arrogant and it almost got you killed. It almost got Dick killed!”

 

“Is that what this is about? My recklessness and arrogance? Or are you actually upset that one of your precious prodigies is literally a breath away from death? If you want to be mad at someone for what happened tonight, fine, be mad at me, I don’t give a shit.  But don’t you dare try to tell me that you’re angry at me when you’re really only angry at yourself. You’re such a fucking hypocrite.”

 

Jason picks his helmet up off his lap, examines it while Bruce seems to mull over the words. Bruce responds, almost too quietly for Jason to hear, but Jason feels his heart quench at the words. “I’m sorry, Jason. You’re right, I’m just worried.”

 

Another few minutes goes by before they pull into the Batcaves entrance. Leslie is working on Dick, Superman at her side when they run up to meet them. Hearing their footsteps, Alfred looks up from the other side of Dick, his previously white, but now bloodied, shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, “Master Bruce, Master Jason,” he greeted.

 

“Alfred, how is he?”

 

“Well, you guys got his heart beating back on that rooftop, but it’s touch and go. We reinflated his lung, and put a chest tube in, which is a start, but we have to get this bar out of him which requires surgery.”

 

“Do it, Leslie, anything we can do?” Bruce asked rounding the table and placing himself near Dicks head as he removes the cowl from his head. 

 

“He’s awake, barely, he wanted to tell you something before I did anything.” Leslie’s scowl deepens, “Stubborn kid, like always.”

 

“I heard that.” Dick mutters, almost incoherently.

 

Bruce stoops low so that he can see and talk to Dick, but remains there only a few moments before the monitors he’s hooked up to begin to go off and Leslie kicks them all from the room. 

 

It was hours later, before Leslie allowed them back into the cave. Jason didn’t stick around long, just long enough to know that he would survive before he left. 

 

He spent most of the next week recuperating himself. The concussion that he had received was no joke he realized, when he tried to go out on patrol the night after and nearly puked five times, and the amount of times he had tripped and fell actually surpassed that amount. So he took it easy. 

 

It wasn’t two weeks later, that he came across a certain black and blue birdie, sitting on the rooftop of one of the taller buildings in Gotham, eating a sandwich. His legs hung over the roofs edge and Jason wonders for a moment, if he’d be able to catch himself if he were to suddenly be pushed. 

 

Jason doesn’t have long to reflect before Dick turns and smiles at him. “Fancy meeting you here, kind of a weird place to run into people, but it will do.”

 

“This is my favorite gargoyle, you knew I would show up here. Does daddy Bat know you’re out?”

 

“I’m an adult, and no, he doesn’t. I just wanted to thank you is all.” Dick said between bites of his sandwich.

 

“Great, for what?” Jason asked, seating himself besides his brother.

 

“Well, technically you saved my life.” Dick started, “but then I saved your life first, so does that mean the acts cancel each other out, or do you get to thank me instead?”

 

“I’m not thanking you,” Jason responded casually, as he thought about pushing Dick over the edge again.

 

“Whatever, thanks for saving my life.” Dick finished his sandwich and stood. For a moment, Jason thought he was going to be able to push him, but was then mildly surprised when Dick stepped off the ledge and back onto the roof, groaning with the movements. 

 

“What, no acrobatics?”

 

“Not unless I want another lecture from Agent A, Leslie, and Batman. In that order.” Dick responded, as he carefully stretched, and then tucked his arm against his side. 

 

“How’re you healing up?”

 

“Too slowly if you ask me. Leslie’s not sure how much more of this my body can take, but that's a problem for another day.” Dick says, a hint of melancholy in his normally chipper tone.

 

“You and me both, we’re getting old!” Jason yells out to the people on the ground below him. It earns a chuckle from his brother. “So what’d you tell Bruce before you died again?”

 

Dick thinks about it for a second, before a large smile crosses his face. “I told him that someone needed to go feed my goldfish.” Dick laughs as he heads towards the doorway to the stairs, which Jason realizes is open a bit.

 

“Seriously?” Jason asks dumbstruck, “You don’t have goldfish.”

 

“I know that and you know that,” Dick pulls open the door and then winks, “Bruce doesn’t though.”

 

With that, his brother disappears and Jason chuckles. “Thanks for saving my life Dick,” Jason whispers into the wind.

**Author's Note:**

> If y'all want to follow me on Tumblr, my main is Whumperwriter.tumblr.com. I also have one devoted to my writing, imagine-tay-tion.tumblr.com, where you can request fics from me! Hopefully I'll be talking to y'all soon!
> 
> And remember to leave me a comment, as they do feed my dark soul!


End file.
